KARACHI, April 5: The Pakistan People’s Party would on Wednesday hold province-wise protest against the government decision to fragment Hyderabad district into four separate entities, allegedly to the advantage of a major stake holder in the ruling coalition, and for arresting its MPA Ghulam Qadir Chandio on what it claimed was a cooked up allegation. This was stated by PPP’s provincial chief Qaim Ali Shah in a news conference at Bilawal House on Tuesday. He demanded immediate release of MPA Chandio and urged the judiciary to take suo motu notice of the government’s “coercive and anti-people” actions.
Qaim Ali Shah accused the government of conspiring to make the ethnic divide more menacing by fragmenting Hyderabad, the second largest city of the province, on the lines of Larkana and other areas.
Rejecting bifurcation of Hyderabad, Qaim Ali Shah claimed that it was not based on principles. “It has been done to facilitate one party and some small groups in the ruling constellation,” he said.
The PPP provincial chief pointed out that before fragmentation Hyderabad had 102 union councils, 61 in rural areas and 41 in urban areas. It had been a district where Urdu and Sindhi speaking people had lived together for the past many decades.
“If Karachi having 12 million population can be given the status of a city district government by merging five districts, why Hyderabad was not given the same status, for which Nazim of Hyderabad had been pleading since long,” he remarked.
Syed Qaim Ali Shah also claimed that timing of fragmentation of Hyderabad and arrest of MPA Chandio was also significant and claimed that it was designed to undermine the PPP and particularly the planned mobilization for the reception of Asif Ali Zardari on April 16 in Lahore.
He also claimed that the government wanted to pit the people of Sindh against each other on flimsy ground to rule by proxy and scuttle the real issues concerning the people. He warned that arbitrary decisions taken by the government would be harmful as new districts in Sindh were created without discussing with major stake holders. In fact, he alleged the whole exercise was aimed at undermining the PPP vote bank. He also reminded the government of the people’s reaction in Qambar Village in protest against the creation of new district.
The PPP provincial chief also alleged that such arbitrary decisions were indicative of the kind of rigging the government was planning in the upcoming local body and general elections. He said that in order to register protest the PPP cadre would wear black armbands and stage protest demonstrations in different parts of the province.
Mr Shah was of the view that the arrest of Mr Chandio, who hailed from Nawabshah - the home district of Asif Zardari, was a clear message to PPP workers who were planning to accord him a big welcome in Lahore.
Qaim Ali Shah was flaked by Makhdoom Jameeluzzaman, Nawab Yusuf Talpur, Taj Haider, N.D. Khan, Dr Fahmida Mirza, Rashid Rabbani, Rafiq Engineer and Waqar Mehdi.
